Warm your soul with this creamy Mexican Bean Soup. This pinto bean soup offers a flavorful taste of Latin comfort.
This creamy Mexican Bean Soup is a delightful blend of hearty pinto beans and rich, aromatic spices, perfect for warming your soul. It’s a versatile dish that brings the vibrant flavors of Latin cuisine to your kitchen.
With basic ingredients, you can create a comforting and wholesome meal. Plus, it’s easy to customize with your favorite toppings and variations, ensuring that each bowl is just as exciting as the last. Serve it with fresh salsa, diced avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream, or a squeeze of lime for added flavor and texture.
Table of Contents
Reasons to Love This Mexican Bean Soup
- This dish is perfect for meal prepping, batch cooking, and leftovers.
- Mexican Bean Soup is easy to make, even for beginners.
- This soup recipe uses simple, wholesome ingredients.
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground Cumin: This spice offers a warm, earthy taste.
- Yellow Onion: Diced yellow onions provide a sweet and savory depth.
- Ground Cayenne Pepper: Adds a subtle heat and spice to the soup.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Garnish Options: Top your Mexican Bean Soup with diced avocado, sour cream, fresh salsa, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, or shredded cheese. These add color, texture, and extra flavor that will enhance the soup.
- Spicy Kick: For a spicier Mexican Bean Soup, add extra cayenne pepper or include diced jalapenos during the sautéing step. You can also sprinkle in some red pepper flakes, and chili powder, or add a splash of hot sauce to kick up the heat.
- Broth Alternatives: For a vegan pinto bean soup, swap a vegan alternative or use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
How to Make Mexican Bean Soup
Step #1: Sort through the beans to remove any debris, then rinse them under running tap water. Place the rinsed beans in a 6-quart or larger Dutch oven or other lidded pot and add 7 cups of water. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and cover the pot. Let simmer for 90 minutes.
Step #2: When the beans are done cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 10 minutes, until browned and softened. Add the garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Sauté for 60 seconds. Add the cooked beans and any remaining liquid from the bean pot into the skillet.
Step #3: Pour the chicken broth into the pot and turn the heat to medium-high. Once the liquid reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Taste and add salt as needed. If the soup seems too thin for you, continue cooking it uncovered until it reduces to your desired thickness.
Step #4: Serve topped with salsa, sour cream, and avocado.
Expert Tips
- Alternative Blending: If an immersion blender is not available, you can blend the soup in batches using a regular blender. Be sure to let the soup cool slightly, blend carefully to avoid spills, and stir well before serving.
- Use Time-Saving Tool: Save time with this 3-in-1 avocado peeler, slicer, and pitter tool. It makes preparing avocados quick and easy.
- Onion Caramelization: Let the onions caramelize slightly while sautéing. This deepens the flavor of the soup and adds a hint of sweetness that complements the spices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can substitute pinto beans with other beans such as black beans, kidney beans, or navy beans.
You can add a variety of veggies such as bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, or corn to enhance the flavor and nutritional value of the soup. Simply dice and add them during the sautéing step.
You can add fresh cilantro, oregano, smoked paprika, or a squeeze of lime juice for extra flavor. For a smoky depth, try chipotle pepper, green chiles, or a splash of adobo sauce. Adjust the spices to your taste.
Storage Info
Store Mexican Bean Soup in an airtight container or mason jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. To freeze, place the cooled soup in freezer-safe containers or bags for up to 3 months.
Reheat the soup on the stovetop over medium heat until warmed through, or microwave it in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of water or broth if the soup has thickened too much during storage.
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Mexican Bean Soup Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans
- 7 cups water
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 cups diced yellow onion - about 2 large onions
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- Sour Cream - Avocado, and Fresh Salsa for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Sort through the beans to remove any debris, then rinse them under running tap water. Place the rinsed beans in a 6-quart or larger Dutch oven or other lidded pot and add 7 cups of water. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and cover the pot. Let simmer for 90 minutes.
- When the beans are done cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 10 minutes, until browned and softened. Add the garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Sauté for 60 seconds. Add the cooked beans and any remaining liquid from the bean pot into the skillet.
- Pour the chicken broth into the pot and turn the heat to medium-high. Once the liquid reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Taste and add salt as needed. If the soup seems too thin for you, continue cooking it uncovered until it reduces to your desired thickness.
- Serve topped with salsa, sour cream, and avocado.
NOTES
Nutrition
Three cheers for frugal recipes! Especially ones like this that don’t TASTE frugal, right?? Nice job! I don’t think I’ve ever had a pinto bean soup before.
Thanks, Haley! It’s surprisingly satisfying 🙂
I made this last night. Great recipe. I had previously made pinto beans in the crock pot and froze the leftovers for later. So I skipped the step of cooking them. Started at the saute the onion part. I also make my own chicken stock (freeze that as well) so this was pretty wholesome in my opinion. I did not need as much stock as there was still enough water from when I made the beans. Having everything already premade really made this meal a simple week night meal. Thank you so much for sharing.
I like to make my beans like that sometimes, too! And there’s nothing like homemade chicken stock 🙂 So glad you liked this!
I have a lot of canned pinto beans and want to use them up. Is there a way to use those for this soup? I really like making different kinds of soup and this one looks really delicious.
Absolutely, Bev! Just make sure you drain and rinse the beans. I’d wait until the very end to add any salt, and I’d only use low-sodium broth. Canned beans typically come with quite a bit of their own salt content!
Your bulk section dialogue made me laugh! And green bananas? Yuck! I get in trouble from my husband for the brown banana situation in our house because I ‘rescue’ the bananas from my office fruit bowl at the end of the week, bring them home, let them get good and brown, and then freeze them for baking. They’re perfect! I love the looks of this soup! All those flavours are so great, and such a great healthy soup to have in the freezer. Pinned and will be making asap. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks, Katie! I have a problem with freezing brown bananas and forgetting about them. Boo 🙁
I have a good crockpot bean recipe; any chance you could put everything together and let it do its thing for 6-8 hours? Sounds delicious!
You could give it a try! Let me know how it turns out 🙂